Despite launching its 200GB perpendicular 2.5in notebook hard disk a couple of days ago at Computex, Hitachi is still being annoyingly guarded about the product.

A visit to its stand to find out more yielded a string ‘can’t say’ and ‘no comment’ answers. So, we don’t know the product roadmap. Nor do we know the price to buy it stand alone, or how much extra cost it will add to the price of a notebook.

Hitachi wouldn’t say which notebook manufacturers are planning to use it, or even if any makers had agreed to take it – although we find it hard to believe that they wouldn’t.

We have no idea when we are likely to see even larger capacities in these Serial ATA drives, but we can tell you that they spin at 4,200 rpm.

But the ‘non’ spokesman did let slip that Hitachi is developing a 1.8in perpendicular disk for use in products such as mp3 players and satellite navigation devices, although didn’t give any indication of a release date.

So expect to see massive storage capabilities in these types of devices in the not too distant future.

You can learn more about how perpendicular drives work here.